Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 2011 adaptation of the beloved MGM movie musical classic is back on tour, with enough light and sound to blast your face off. This new production directed by Nikolai Foster was originally created for the Leicester Curve (2022–2023), and has since been ‘lightened’ a bit here for touring.

The most dominating aspect of the production is the fact there is basically no set (Colin Richmond): just one enormous cinema-screen backdrop of CGI video projections (Douglas O’Connell). In Kansas, it’s photo-realistic fields and roads, but in Oz, it looks and moves just like a technicolour computer game, complete with swirling floating arrows. While a technical marvel, it seems a real shame for parents to drag their kids away from the iPad, only to be confronted by another giant screen and computer graphics in the theatre.

New orchestration (David Cullen) is frenetic and over-the-top, a big change from the slow, old-school charm of the 1939 musical. Playing along with a pre-recorded karaoke backing track, the 10-piece band sound more like an overamplified video game soundtrack. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new songs are significantly weaker than the beloved originals; although it is intriguing to hear the Wicked Witch of the West (The Vivienne from RuPaul’s Drag Race) sing a song for the first time.

It’s a noble aim to try and bring The Wizard of Oz into the new century, and make it an attractive show for new theatre goers. But the style is so in-your-face and one-dimensional, it’s at risk of alienating those fans of the original movie. Children may find it scary for being so loud, and parents may be disappointed by forking out for a theatre ticket, only to be presented with another video screen.

Currently on tour across the UK and Ireland, until August 2024.